Draft rigging



B. w. KADEL.

DRAFT RIGGING.

` Aug. 15. 1933.

Filed OGt. 30. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. l5, 1933.

B. w. KADEL 1,922,300

DRAFT RIGGING Filed Oct. 30. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug. 15,1933 UNITEDSTATES DRAFT RiordinoA Byers, W. Kadel, Baltimore, Md.,assigner, by

mesne assignments, to The Symngton Company, New York, N. Y., aCorporation of Maryland Application october 30,1924. serial No. 746,770

` 2 claims. (o1. 21a- 30) l g The invention relates to draft rigging andmore particularly to a shock absorbing unit adapted for `use as thecushioning unit of railway draft rigging.

The principal object of the invention, generally considered, is toprovide a cushioning unitroi' high capacity and low recoil which may beadvantageously substituted for `the friction cushioning elements now ingeneral use and in which the primary cushioning unit comprises a nest ofspring plates.

A further object of the invention is to provide ashock absorbing unithaving amulti-part casing, the parts of the casing `being interlocked soas to prevent separation thereof and at the same time permit relativelongitudinal movement between Vthe same `and to house within said casingcushioning elements arranged to offer a high resistance to closing`loads without excersive` recoil shocks.

`Another object` of the `invention isto provide a plurality ofinterconnected casings solarranged that loads inexcess of thecushioning" elements housedvwithin the casings are transmitted from onecasing to the other and from thence tothe car sills without detriment tothe casings, cushioning elements, or associated parts.

Still another object of the invention is to provide` a simple, compactand reliable cushioning unit having means wherebyparts thereof areinterconnected so as to prevent not only the disassembly but the Wrongassembly of the mechanism.

Tothese and other ends the invention comprises the various elements andcombinations of elements as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings: 0

Figure `1 is a view partially in plan and partially in section of`alrailway draft rigging and associated attachments showing theinvention. Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the cushioningunit of my invention.

Figure 3 is a View partially in side elevation and partially in verticalsection of the construction shown in Figure 2.

View being indicated by the arrows adjacent the Lends of thesectionfline. Y

`Figure G is a front elevation of the cushioning unit forming thesubject-matter of my invention;`

. Figure 2, the springbeingomitted for the sake of clearness. l

Figure 8 is anclevation the cushioning spring omitted.

of the rear casing with` Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional viewsimilar to the rear section of Figure 4, showing, however, the positionthe plates assume under comf pression. l

\ Throughout the drawings and specification like parts are designatedbyV like reference characters, l

The numeral 1 designates the draft or center sills of a car to which Ihave, for convenience, shown applied the well known two-key Farlowattachments. The said attachments Vcomprise a pair ofv slotted cheekplates 2&2 having front slots 3 andrear slots 4 therein, the said slotsbeing adapted, respectively, to accommodate the coupler key andthe frontfollower key 6. Between `the sills there is `located the usualhorizontally disposed yoke 7 which is likewise provided with slots 8 and9 for the reception, respectively, of the said keys. V10 is the frontfollower block through which Vthe key 6 passes and by which, through theinstrumentality `of said key, the shocks and strains, due to draft onthe coupler 11, are transmitted to the check plates, 2 and from thelatter to the` sillsl. its inner end `the yoke 7 bears against a stopmember 12 which bridgesthe sills and by which buiiing shocks, due totheinward movement of the coupler A11, are transmitted to the, carsills. 13is the rear follower which is preferably provided with ears 14 whichoverlie the upper faces of the adjacent portions of the yokev 7 andmain-- tain said follower in assembled position, and interposed betweenthe followers `1C and 13` is the cushioning unit 15 which formsthesubjectmatter of my invention. It will be understood that the cushioningunit hereinafter described is adapted for usewith either vertical orhorizontal yokes both of which are equally well known, and that theillustration of the device in connection with the Farlow two-key`v isnot ma limitation to its use in this connection.

The cushioning unit l5 comprises a Vpair of casings. 16 and 17, thecasing 16 being preferably rectangular in outline and' being 'providedwith a rectangular opening 18 for the reception of the plate springs 19hereinafter to be more fully described.A At its forward end the casing`16 `is provided with a plurality of pairs of recesses 2o which areprefer-ably symmetrically arranged with reference `to the `longitudinalandhorizontal axes of the` casing. The said recesses are adapted toreceive correspondingly shaped` lugs 21 formed -on appropriate parts ofthe cylindrical outer casing 17. rlhe last named casing is preferablyformed as `a hollow shell having a closed bottom 22` and projectingoutwardly therefrom is aheadcr bearing member 23. Said head issubstantially rectangular in outline and is adapted to iit` within1the'opening 18 of the casing 16. The opposite vertical side edges ofsaid head 23 are each struck on arcs of equal radii, the centers ofcurvature of said arcs being spaced apartso that the curvature of oneedge is theV reverse of the curvature of the opposite edge, as clearlyshown in Figure 3. The two edges are connected by a convex portion, theaxis of which is disposed diagonally of the two vertical side edges.Gwing to the reverse curvature of the side edges of the head 23 andowing to the fact that the head 23 is of greater extent than the neckportion 24 which connects the same to the bottom Wall 22, there areprovided, at diametrically opposite corners of the head, shoulders 25and 26, the shoulders 25 being in one plane and the shoulders 26 beingin another parallel plane. This construction provides means forinterlockingly connecting the casings 16 and 17 and at the same timeprovides means for preventing the wrongful assembly of said parts. Atone pair of diagonally opposite corners I provide interlocking elementssuch as a pair of rods or rivets 27, and at the other diagonallyopposite corners I provide another pair of rods or rivets 28, theinterlocking elements such as rods 27 being placed closer to the openend ofthe casing 16 than are the rods 28 and since the head 23 of thecasing 17, owing to the lugs 2l, can only be assembled with the casing16 in certain positions and since it is only possible to insert the rods27 when the shoulders 25 are inthe' proper position, and only possibleto insert the rods 28 when the shoulders 26 are in proper position, itnecessarily follows that there iseonly one way to assembie the casings16 and 17. After the casings have been assembled the rods 27 and 28 mayhave their ends riveted over, as at 29, to prevent the separation of thecasings during shipment.

The casing 17 is provided in the bottom wall 22 with a screw-threadedopening 30 for the reception of the bolt 31 which is provided at itsopposite end with a head 32 seated and housed in a thimble or inwardlyembossed spring-centering portion 33 of the follower 34. Interposedbetween the 'inner face of the follower 34 and the bottom Wall^22 of thecasing 17, is a friction spring mechanism 35 and enclosed within thefriction spring mechanism is a coil spring 35a. Both the friction'andcoil springs preferably bear at opposite ends against the follower 34and wall 22, respectively,l and it will be obvious that any desiredpreliminary compression may be maintained by the adjustment of thelength of the bolt 31, that is the free extension of said bolt from thewall 22.

The casing 16 is also provided with a closed end 36. The said closed end36 is a counter-part of the projecting headl 23 except that it isconcave rather than convex. At opposite diagonal corners, correspondingto the location of the shoulders 25 onthe head 23, there is suitablymounted in recesses 37 in the face or end wall 36 rocker members 38,said rocker members being adapted to engage the diagonal corners of therear rectangular plate of the plate springs 19. The foremost plate ofthe plate springs 19 is adapted to engage the projecting face of thehead 23. Y

The casing 16 may be provided with a rearwardly extending portion 39whichniay be cored, as shown at 40, for the sake-of lightness, theprojection 39, when the device is in service, being adapted to engagethe follower 13 of the draft rigging.

It will be observed that the plate spring member 19 comprises aplurality of fiat spring plates in face to face contact and it will alsobe noted that I have shown the springs of unequal thickness. 'Ihegreater number of plates employed causes a corresponding increase in thefrictional resistance generated by the sliding contact of one plate onthe other and in this manner the recoil shocks generated by the springplates 19, returning from the position shown in Figure 9 to the positionshown in Figure 4, is to a large extent dissipated by the frictionalresistance.

To obviate wear on the corners opposite to the corners in which therocker members 38 are located, I preferably provide the casing 16 withangle hardened wear plates 41 which are conveniently attached to thecasing by means of the bolts 28 through the corresponding corners.

rIhe operation of the device is believed to be obvious from theforegoing description but it might be pointed out that on the initialcompression of the cushioning device either by draft or bufng movementsof the coupler, there is first interposed a combined frictional andspring resistance of the friction spring 35 and the coil spring 352L andthat this resistance increases progressively until such time as thefollower 10 of the draft gear here illustrated contacts the forward endof the casing 17. This contact of course limits the compression andmovement of the springs 35 and 35a and upon a further movement of thecoupler in the same direction the casing 17 is caused to sliderelatively to the casing 16, thereby owing to the shape of the faces 23and 36, causing a flexure of the plate springs 19 along a diagonal line,and owing to the capacity of the nested plate springs, the resistance ofthe cushioning unit is rapidly increased to a point suflicient toovercome the force moving the coupler. In case that the resistance isinsufficient it will be observed that the casing 17, and moreparticularly the lugs 21, thereof will contact with the rear faces ofthe recesses 20 and hence any overload in excess of the capacity of thecushioning unit will be transmitted from one casing directly to theother and from the latter casing to the stationary follower.

Having now described my invention what I claim is:

l. Cushioning mechanism including a pair of slidably connected casings,plate springs within one of said casings adapted to contact an integralportion of the other, a coil spring mechanism within said other casing,a follower engaging the free end of said coil spring, and interengagingmeans on said casings for preventing rotation, said means being adaptedto transmit from one of said casings to the other forces in excess ofthe capacity of said plate springs.

2. A cushioning mechanism for railway draft rigging comprising a housingsubstantially rectangular in cross section, resilient means in saidhousing, a follower positioned in said housing for flexing saidresilient means, the surface of the follower toward said resilient meansbeing convexly curved diagonally with respect to the engaged housing andformed with outstanding lugs fitting the corners of the housing wherebyadjacent lugs are positioned in different transverse planes and meansextending through the corners of the housing at positions correspondingwith the lugs on the follower for holding said follower in assembledrelation with respect to the housing.

BYERS W. KADEL.

